The Circle (Part 1)
by Alec William
Summary: Completely original characters, but with appearances by some favourites.


THE CIRCLE

1

Elric Ashbridge walks through a silent forest. In the distance the sun is just below the horizon, beams of light still illuminate the sky, tingeing it in a pink and blue color. The twigs snap beneath his heavy footsteps. He wasn't too worried about the wizard he was hunting, just a few minor offenses. But he didn't show up at his hearing, so Elric was tasked to retrieve him and present him to the Ministry.

Vernon Clark was accused of using a Patronus in front of muggles. Which Elric found rather odd, aside from Dementors there's really no other use for a Patronus, and why would someone like Vernon- who's had no prior offenses- do something so rash. It puzzled Elric; something is wrong, very wrong. Elric stops in his tracks as darkness falls in the forest; farther down the forest he can see a wooden cabin, the supposed place where Vernon was hiding. Sweat trickles down his temple as he nears the cabin. The sudden rise in temperature presented another number of questions, as it's November in the middle of England. The cabin was pitch black. He approaches the steps with care, keeping an eye out for anyone at the window. Each creak of the floorboard made him cringe. He pushes on the door but it's locked. He takes out his wand and points it at the lock.

 _"_ _Alohomora"_ he says. He hears the lock click and he pushes the door open carefully. _"Lumos,"_ the tip of the wand ignites with a white light. The entrance of the cabin was relatively empty aside from a table and a few chairs. Ahead of him was the kitchen he could see the stove was off and the sink was empty. "Mr. Clark? I'm Elric Ashbridge, an Auror from the Ministry of Magic. I've been sent to take you back for your hearing."

Elric sees a door to his left that must be the bedroom; he opens it cautiously ready for an attack. Nothing attacks him, and the bedroom is completely silent. He sees Vernon Clark laying on the bed with blanket over him. "Mr. Clark, this isn't the time for ga-" The smell is the first to hit him, then he notices that Vernon wasn't moving, but the blanket was, or rather it wasn't a blanket. He raises his wand casting a light on Vernon and the creature. It was digesting him, the creature looked like a rippling black cape surrounding Vernons corpse. A glass shatters behind Elric, which makes him jump, and he sees that two more creatures, which he believes to be a Lethifold, surround him. They slither on the floor towards him as they almost reach his feet he takes a step back and raises his wand.

" _Expecto Patronum!"_ A white Marsh Harrier explodes out of his wand and flies around the room. The Lethifolds flinch back and bolt towards the windows and crash through it. Elric breathes a sigh of relief. Lethifolds are nasty business, they resemble Dementors in a way, but are inadvertently different, and considered as a Fantastic Beast. They're a carnivorous species that attack at night when their prey is sleeping. But what confuses Elric is that they're found in warmer climates, you could never find a Lethifold in England, maybe in Papua New Guinea or in the Philippines but never in a cold climate such as England. He needed to return to the Ministry of Magic and speak to them about it.

As he heads for the exit, he hears the faintest whimper under the floorboards. Reactively he points his wand towards the sound.

"Step out of there," he stated. A little girl pushes up a hidden door. Elric lowers his wand. The small girl starts to cry, and Elric assumes that this is Vernons daughter. "How long have you been hiding there?"

She starts to cry even more, and in between breaths she manages to tell him the whole story. Astonished and deeply disturbed with the girls recounting of the nights events, he decides to bring her straight to the Ministry.

"Just hold on to me tight okay? This is going to feel a bit odd." They step outside of the cabin and disappear with a pop.

When they reach the Ministry, Ronald Weasley, and Harry Potter himself greet them. Elric puts down the girl, she looks as if she's ready to hurl, and considering what they've both seen tonight he doesn't blame her. Both Harry and Ron are wearing their Auror uniforms, and it looks as if they're going somewhere.

"Elric! Took you long enough, mate. Where's Vernon Clark? And who's this?" Ron kneels in front of the little girl who was looking a little less green.

"This is Mary, Vernons daughter." Elric says, and gestures for Harry to follow him as Ron kept Mary company.

"What is it?" Harry whispers. "Where's Vernon? And why do you look so scared?" So Elric told Harry, about the Lethifolds, about Vernons death, and about the little girl hiding away underneath the floorboards. "And what did she say to you, Elric?"

"She told me that when her father told her to hide there was someone at the door. She said that they were arguing about what he owes them, and how they could go to the Ministry and tell them about his loyalty to the Dark Lord." Elric can't imagine how Harry must feel, Voldemort has been dead nearly five years now, but he's still feeling the after effects. Elric had been there during the Battle of Hogwarts, and Harry's final duel with Lord Voldemort. He even remembers the finals moments of Tonks and Lupin. They paid a high price to defeat Voldemort and his Death Eaters; the loss they suffered on that day will be a constant wound on their hearts.

"Were they Death Eaters?" Asks Harry.

"She didn't get a good look at them, so maybe." Elric shakes his head. "There's another thing, she said that the man controlled the Lethifolds, and told them to attack her father."

"He was controlling them? That doesn't make any sense." Harry said. "You're going to need help. Go to Leeds. There's a pub there called The Prancing Pony. Find a retired Auror named Vesta. He'll help you find this man."

"Why can't you help me?" Elric asks almost pleading. It's not every day you can get help from The Chosen One.

"Sorry mate, there's trouble in Hogwarts, something about Dragons migrating into the Forbidden Forest. Ron let's go!" He yells. "Don't worry, Vesta can help you, he's as good as any."

Harry and Ron, disapperate with a pop.

Elric turns to Mary, "Let's find you a place to stay, before I head over to Leeds."

2

A soft wind blows through Roundhay Park. The November chill creeps up Vestas back causing him to shiver. He takes another swig from his canteen containing whatever poison he put inside earlier in the evening. Everything is a blur to him now. Since the last Death Eater was captured he lost all sense of purpose in life. All he does now is drink. He looks around and sees that night has fallen and there's not a single soul around. Vesta gets up and starts to walk, the path is littered with fallen leaves of different colors, and the trees are bare from the coming of winters bite. To his right he could see the canal, and inside the water are a number of Grindylows swimming about. His foot hits an uprooted rock and he almost tumbles over but catches himself on the trunk of a tree. He whistles loudly calling for something; a thin bird coated in green but almost black feathers lands on his extended arm. The sad looking creature nuzzles head into Vestas cheek. He sits there for a while and stares at the Augurey, who he named Mourn.

It was always believed my most Wizards and Witches that Augureys could foretell the coming of death, which drew Vesta to this beast. Although eventually, they found out that it's cry only foretold the coming of rain. He kept the bird anyway because he had grown attached to it. Sobering up a little, he got up and started walking towards his favorite pub. Mourn cries out and Vesta sighs.

"Gonna rain soon ay?" He mumbles half to himself half to the bird. Fifteens minutes later it was pouring out. But Vesta was close enough to the pub to just jog his way there. Mourn leaves his arm and begins to hunt in the rain. The entire street was dark aside from The Prancing Pony. Vesta could hear the faint sound of singing, which meant that it was getting lively inside.

Upon entering dozens of Witches and Wizards raised their glass in his direction, welcoming him to the pub. Cups of ale and butterbeer were floating towards tables; he had to duck to get past a few. The bartender sees him and waves in his direction.

"Oy! Vesta! There's a bloke here waitin' for ya over in the corner! Looks like an Auror." The thin old man gestures towards the back table, a burly man sat in Auror uniform. His pale blond hair and blues eyes stood out. The other Wizards and Witches avoided his table as much as possible, the one downside to The Prancing Pony is that it's frequented by criminals or people looking for a fresh start away from the Ministry of Magic. So seeing an Auror around these parts makes them very uncomfortable. Vesta approaches the table; the man catches his eye and stands, towering about a foot over Vesta.

"Sit down boy," he hisses. Elric gives him a puzzled look, but obliges. "What is an Auror doing all the way out here? And for heavens sake order a drink, you look like a fool just sitting here."

He gestures the bartender for two drinks. Two butterbeers floated towards the table. Vesta stares at Elric for a moment. Elric shifts awkwardly under his gaze.

"Who sent you here boy?" Vesta finally says breaking the silence. "Why is an Auror all the way in Leeds?" Vesta takes a swig of the butterbeer, the creamy liquid kicks into affect and he's already a little buzzed.

"Harry Potter sent me." Vesta chokes on his drink and wipes the foam from his upper lip.

"Harry Potter? You must be very desperate to need my help. What's your name boy?" Why would Harry Potter send this boy after me? Vesta thinks to himself.

"I'm Elric Ashbridge and there's something happening, I don't know what yet, but there's a lot of dark magic popping up in places where it shouldn't. Mr. Potter told me I could find you here. So here I am." Elric takes a drink of his butterbeer. "All I know is that Mr. Potter needs our help to get to the bottom of this."

"Why isn't Harry Potter here telling all of this to me himself?" Vesta asks with a reproachful look on his face.

"There's trouble in Hogwarts. Something about Dragons migrating there." Elric shrugs.

Vesta only shakes his head. "Dragons coming to Hogwarts is never a good sign. Right?"

"I guess so. Maybe that's why Mr. Potter made that a priority over what's happening with the Lethifolds." He says thoughtfully.

"And what's going on with the Lethifolds?" So Elric explained the whole situation in detail to Vesta, who only nodded and grunted at certain parts of the story. "Dragons migrating to where they're not supposed to be, Lethifolds following a man who served Voldemort. Something doesn't add up. Fine, I'll help you boy." Elric looks over to the window and sees Mourn sitting on the perch crying out.

"Is that an Augerey? It's crying out." He states.

"Yes, that's Mourn. He belongs to me." Vesta stands and starts to put on his coat. "Augereys cry out before it rains. Didn't you learn that in school?"

"But Vesta, it's already raining." Elric starts to draw his wand, and Vesta does the same. At that moment the candles in pub went out, coating the whole room in darkness. Elric and Vesta froze where stood.

" _Bombarda Maxima!_ " A voice outside the pub yells. Vesta pushes Elric onto the floor. An explosion destroys the front of the pub, leaving a large hole where the front door once stood.

"Bloody hell!" Vesta yells. Figures in hooded robes enter the pub, their silver skulled mask illuminated in the moonlight. "Death Eaters!"

Flashes of green blink in the darkness each curse hitting Wizards and Witches alike. Several of them apparate away while Elric and Vesta fight back.

" _Stupify!_ " Elric yells. A blast of red light exits his wand and launches the Death Eater flying. The pub erupts into chaos, with screams filling the air while curses are flying everywhere.

"We need to run!" Yells Vesta during his duel with a Death Eater. As bad as the situation is, Vesta couldn't hide his joy. The Death Eaters have returned and now he has a purpose again. But they needed to live to fight another day. He ran and grabbed Elric and they disapperated with a pop.

3

The steam coming out of Hagrid's hut reminded him of his time at Hogwarts. Although he wasn't as close with the gamekeeper as the other students, he always admired his affinity in mythical creatures and fantastic beasts. Carter had come here at the request of the Hogwarts Head Master. The sudden appearance of Dragons flying over the Forbidden Forest made students and teachers uneasy. He sat at the edge of the forest waiting for the Aurors sent by the ministry. He'd never liked the forest as a student, and even now he's still not mad about entering. Being one of the foremost experts in Dragons he didn't really have a choice. He looked into the Forbidden Forest, and although it was still morning, it was almost completely dark inside. It was as if there was something lurking in the shadows inside. He stands and starts to pace back and forth. Where are those two Aurors?

"Snape?" A voice behind him says. He turns and sees a man with round spectacles and messy hair; he could see a faint scar over his forehead. Behind him was a tall red headed man who was giving him a surprised look.

"Sorry? No my name Carter Blackwell. Snape was my uncle. My mother was a Snape." Carter says to Harry and Ron.

"Bloody hell, you look just like him." Ron says with a shocked look on his face. Carter was tall and lanky; he had a hooked nose and oily black hair, which complimented his black eyes. Carter didn't blame them for assuming he was Snape, they weren't the first ones. "I didn't know Snape had a sister."

"I didn't find out until recently who my family was. My mother died giving birth to me, and I was raised by my father, who's a muggle." Carter says. Carter extends a hand and Harry takes it. "It's good to meet you Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley."

"Likewise, Carter Blackwell. Shall we get to it then? I've heard most of what we need to know from the Headmaster. One very large Dragon, and multiple smaller ones right?" Harry asks rhetorically. Carter only nods as they all begin to walk into the Forbidden Forest.

"You're going to need these." Carter hands them two crimson cloaks. "These are made out of the coat of a Salamander, and created with their flames. They'll protect you from the adult Dragons fire."

Ron and Harry take the cloaks. Ron examines his with very large smile on his face. "These are really rare you know. My brother Charlie can't even get his hands on these. Do you know him?"

Carter shakes his head. "He must work for another company that handles Dragons. My company often handles Norwegian Ridgebacks but sometimes we come into contact with different kinds of Dragons. Had to tame a Hungarian Horntail once. Did not have a good time with that." Carter laughs along with Ron while Harry just looks a little pale.

"Shush, did you hear that?" Harry says and the laughter dies. Ron and Carter listen intently. In the distance, they can hear wood cracking under something heavy.

"Can you see what it is Harry?" Ron asks in a whisper. Harry shakes his head.

"We need to get closer." Harry whispers. They go into a crawl and edge closer towards the sound. All three of them come across a large fallen tree and they hide behind it. Carter slightly peaks over the edge and sees a Dragon over fifty feet long, with metallic grey scales and blood red eyes. In front of it was a man in black cloak with hand extended. The Dragon bends over and snuggles into the figures hand. Carter couldn't believe his eyes, that Dragon should've burnt that man into a crisp already.

"That's a Ukrainian Ironbelly, do you see what I'm seeing?" Carter asks. Harry and Ron nod both in shock. Ron leans forward a little to get a better look but steps on a branch causing it to make a loud snapping sound. Both the Ironbelly and the man who was also wearing a silver skull mask look in their direction. The man turns and disapperates with a pop. The Ironbelly roars loudly causing all their ears to pop.

"Spread out! Don't bunch up. Carter, Ron distract it!" They spread out following Harry's instructions. Carter moves the side of the Ironbelly, Ron the follows his lead but on the other side. The dragon rears it's back ready to spit flames towards Harry.

" _Incarcerous!_ " Carter yells. The spell connects with the mouth of the dragon wrapping ropes around its mouth preventing it from spitting fire. It turns its attention to Carter. It easily breaks through the ropes and the flames erupt out of its mouth and hurl towards Carter. He throws the cloak over himself and the fire passes by him without causing injury.

"Any ideas Ron!?" Harry yells. Ron looks around and sees the fallen trunk they were hiding behind earlier.

"Harry blind it!" Ron bellows.

" _Obscuro!_ " A blindfold appears over the eyes of the dragon, stopping it from spitting fire on Carter. The Ironbelly roars trying to tear the blindfold off of its eyes

"Now what?" Harry asks.

"Remember our first year at Hogwarts, the troll in the girls lavatory?" Harry smiles at the memory as Ron reminds him. "Use the tree trunk!"

" _Wingardium Leviosa!_ " Both Harry and Ron use the charm to lift the large and very heavy tree trunk and make it hover over the Ironbellys head. They drop the trunk and it lands on the dragon's head with a crack, knocking the dragon out cold. They breathe a sigh of relief. Harry sees something on the side of the dragon's neck. He moves in to get a closer and sees a symbol he's never seen before. It was a large perfect circle with a smaller circle inside of it. In the center was a line that cut both circles in half.

"Have you two ever seen this symbol before?" Harry asks. Ron and Carter come to take a closer look but both shake their head.  
"It looks like the Deathly Hallows symbol, it just doesn't have a triangle but two circles." Ron says. "If there's anyone who would know about this it would be Hermione. Where's Hermione when you need her?"

"We can't bother Hermione with this can we? She's been busy fighting for the rights of house elves. But what worries me was that man who looked like a Death Eater. We need to warn the Ministry. We need to talk to Percy, Ron." Ron only nods at Harry's statement. "But first what are we going to do with this Ironbelly?"

Ron and Harry look to Carter for answer. "We can have some people come and cage it and search for the young. I can oversee it."

"No you're a witness to that Death Eater, we'll need you to testify to the Ministry of what you saw." Harry says.

Carter nods. "I'll meet you at the Ministry then. I'll have to wait for them to show up here and make sure the Ironbelly is taken care of." Harry and Ron say their goodbyes and disapperate, leaving Carter and the dragon alone.

4

The nightmare starts the same every night.

Eleodoro sits bound to a chair and he can hear the screams of his wife in the next room. Dolohov enters his room with a twisted smile on his face, they haven't even asked him any questions yet. All they've done was torture him and laugh, deriving sick pleasure from his pain. He doesn't remember how many times he's begged them to just kill him. He couldn't stand it anymore.

"Pl-please just let my wife go. She's just a muggle, she's not involved in all this." Eleodoro is pleading now; tears are threatening to fill his eyes. Dolohov only chuckles at Eleodoros pleas; he starts to take his wand out, and he points it at Eleodoro.

" _Crucio!_ " He says in a deep voice. The pain is unimaginable, Eleodoro's whole body shakes uncontrollably, it feels as if his head is splitting open and his whole body is on fire. He howled from the pain. It went on for what seemed like hours with no reprieve. Finally it stopped, but then he started hearing his wife scream again. It was endless torture. Once he was alone he wept. He doesn't even know the day or if it's light or dark outside. He finally past out from exhaustion and the pain, dreading waking up again to his wife's screams, but the screams never came. He woke up and he didn't hear anything. His door opened and Dolohov came in again dragging Eleodoro's wife.

She was still as beautiful as he remembered her, her blond curls falling to her shoulders and her beautiful sapphire eyes. But there was something wrong. Those once intense eyes of hers were vacant, no recognition flashed in them when she looked at him.

"Thea? Thea, it's me. It's Eleodoro." His voice breaks as she looked at him blankly. "Oh no, what have they done to you? What have they done?"

The door opens once more. Dolohov kneels in front of Eleodoro. "Where's Harry Potter?"

"I don't know where he is, please you have to believe me." He says exasperated. Dolohov shakes his head and he points his wand at Thea.

" _Crucio!_ " Thea's body shakes and the room fills with her screams.

"Please stop! Stop it, I told you I don't know where Harry Potter is!" Tears are filling his eyes.

Dolohov looks at him for a while. "I believe you. _Avada Kedavra!_ "

The curse fills the room with a green light and it hits Thea in the chest. Her body slumps over on the floor. Dolohov leaves the room and the door closes with a slam.

He wakes in a cold sweat, sitting bolt upright, his face wet from tears. It's been over five years since that day. The loss of Thea has left nothing but an open wound on Eleodoro's heart. The tent was dark aside from a single candlelight in the center of the room. He stood and stretched and shook the sleep from his muscles. The outside of tent was littered with morning light. The air was cold but not too cold to garner an extra coat. Today was the day, he could feel it; he'd been hunting this Death Eater for so long. After the Second Wizarding War, Eleodoro joined the Auror department in the Ministry, but was later banished because he always killed whomever he caught. So he'd been hunting on his own, biding his time until his next kill. Something snapped the day Thea died; he believed that all Death Eaters deserved to die like she did. But most of the Death Eaters have been caught, and now he's losing targets. Dolohov had his memory erased by Hermione Granger, which denied him the satisfaction of torturing the man and then killing him. So he had to settle for other Death Eaters. He's managed to kill four so far. This is his fifth. Eleodoro managed to track the Death Eater to the Alaskan wilderness. He needed to keep his presence concealed or wizards from the Magical Congress of the United States might try and prevent him.

It starts to snow lightly. The sight falling snow makes Eleodoro's heart ache. Thea always loved the snow, she would always drag him out to watch it fall. His sadness channels into his anger causing him to pick up his pace, he was close, and he knows it. He approaches a cabin that seems to be empty. He starts to walk and a curse whizzes past his head, cracking the bark of a tree behind him. He runs for cover the snaps of curses leaving the wand echo in the quiet forest. Finally he sees the man who was crouched behind a number of bushes. He fires back with spells of his own.

" _Stupify!_ " Eleodoro yells.The man stays on the defensive, barely managing to deflect the spells. " _Expelliarmus!_ "

The wand flies out of the hand of the Death Eater. Eleodoro throws another curse at him, knocking him out cold. Eleodoro drags the unconscious man into the cabin. The kettle was on blowing hot steam.

"Might as well make some tea," he mumbles. The tea warms him up as he waits for the Death Eater to gain consciousness.

About an hour later he wakes up in a panic to a grinning Eleodoro.  
"All right mate?" he says. The Death Eater starts to shake from the cold or fear, or both.

"I know who you are. They call you the Reaper." He says, eyeing Eleodoro.

"So that's what they call me ay? I have a question for you Death Eater." He drags a chair in front of the shivering man, making him flinch. "Why serve Voldemort when he's been dead for over five years. It just doesn't make any sense to me."

"Voldemort?" he starts to laugh. "You think I still serve Voldemort? You have no idea what you're getting yourself into, do you?"

Eleodoro scrunches his eyebrows. "So if you don't still serve Voldemort, who do you serve?"

"Like I'd tell you." He spits. Eleodoro stands and retrieves his coat. He takes out four different wands and shows it to the Death Eater. "Whose are those?"

Eleodoro chuckles. "These wands belonged to your brethren. They belonged to the four Death Eaters I killed."

The Death Eaters face goes pale. "S-so? You think I'm afraid of you?"

"Have it your way," he takes out his wand and points it at the Death Eater. "This is for Thea. Crucio!"

The man white knuckles the chair as she shakes. This goes on for hours. The Death Eaters resolve doesn't break, but all men break eventually.

"Kill me! Please just kill me!" Eleodoro breathes a sigh of relief; the Death Eater was ready to talk.

"Tell me first! Who do you serve?! Tell me, and then I'll kill you." Eleodoro bellowed.

"I don't know his name! I don't! But I know someone who does!" Eleodoro does the curse him again and he cries out. "Malfoy! Draco Malfoy! He knows! Please, end it. Please just kill me."

Happy to oblige Eleodoro raises his wand. " _Avada Kedavra._ "

He sighs a sigh of relief. Another one gone, his work wasn't finished, there's something far worse going on here. He was determined to get to the bottom of it. He retrieves the wand of the dead Death Eater and examines it. Near the handle there was an engraving in the wood. It was a circle within a larger circle, with a line going through the center.

5

Elric was asleep on a bed as Vesta tended to his wound. As they were escaping the pub, a Death Eater managed to nick him in the hip with a curse. When they arrived at Vesta's safe house he was bleeding out on the floor. But Vesta made quick work of the wound, healing it until it was a pink scar. The old grey haired wizard sighed, "What are we going to do about these Death Eaters, eh?" Elric mumbles and his eyes flutter open.

"We need help, we need to call someone," says Vesta. "Harry Potter perhaps. These Death Eaters got my blood pumping kid."

Elric sits up slowly and takes in his surroundings. They seem to be in London, the nicer part of town it looks like. Inside the room is a mahogany desk with a chair to match. The bed he's sitting on is king sized, but thanks to his frame he manages to take up half of it. A fire burned at other side of the room keeping it nice and crisp.

"Vesta, where exactly are we?" asks Elric. As if on queue the door opens and enters a taller gentleman, he's young but carried himself with authority, his eyes were ice blue and his hair was blonde but nearly white.

"Draco Malfoy."Malfoy nods in acknowledgement.

"Elric I hope you're feeling a little better, nasty hit you took." Elric tries to get up but Vesta pushes him back down.

"Don't try to move boy, you're still healing. Magic can only do so much." Vesta says with a worried look. Malfoy takes a seat on the cushion near the fireplace. Nobody says anything for a moment.

"Vesta tells me you ran into some Death Eaters. Which I have a hard time believing, they've all went into hiding since Potter killed You-Know-Who." Malfoy says.

"Voldemort," says Elric putting an emphasis on the name, making Malfoy flinch. "Had very loyal followers. But I agree there's no reason for them to come out of hiding now, and so organized. They knew we were asking questions about the death of Vernon Clark, and they somehow found us so quickly. There's no way that was a random attack."

Vesta stands, drawing both Elric and Malfoy's attention. "Then someone must've told them. But the only one's who knew about Vernon Clark were Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, myself, and Elric."

Elric's eyes widen. "The little girl. She knew too. I left her with some Aurors thinking she'd be safe. You don't think…"

The thought of that little girl being hurt made Vesta and Elric uncomfortable. Malfoy gets up out of the chair, and goes over to the desk and takes out a letter.

"I received this by owl about a week ago." Malfoy voice shakes. Vesta takes the letter. It read:

 _Dear Mr. Malfoy, we understand you and your family were loyal to Lord Voldemort during his attempt to conquer England. Although his attempts were futile, and thus stopped by Harry Potter. His actions have not gone unnoticed. Our organization wants to build upon the resolve and the vision that Lord Voldemort had, but he was only a step into the future of what this organization has planned for our world and also the Muggles world. The purification of our kind is the utmost important, not only in England but the whole world. Your family is one of the purest and oldest Wizarding families, and your Father was one of the people closest to Lord Voldemort. We sincerely hope that you consider our request to join our cause to purify the Wizarding community. We hope to be hearing from you soon, Mr. Malfoy._

 _Yours truly,_

 _The Circle_

As Vesta finished reading it aloud his face became ashen and pale, Elrics face mirrored his. Malfoy's head hung low, unable to speak.

"Did you reply?" asks Vesta.

"I haven't, what am I supposed to say to them? No? They'd kill me, then they'd kill my mother and father." Malfoy says exasperated. Just then a tap on the window makes all three of them jump. A sad looking bird is tapping on the window.

"Mourn! He found us!" Vesta opens the window to let Mourn in. The bird nibbles on his finger clearly happy to see Vesta. "I have a job for you Mourn, I need you to get this letter to Harry Potter." Vesta scribbles something else on the back of the paper, and sends Mourn out.

"Let's hope Potter can make sense of this whole thing." Malfoy says. A loud knock comes from the bottom floor of the house. Elric, Malfoy, and Vesta look at each other.

"Stay here," says Vesta to Elric who only grunts in frustration. Malfoy and Vesta proceed down the stairs to the front door. Vesta gestures for Malfoy to stand back.

"Who is it?" Vesta says not knowing what else to say, he shrugs at Malfoy's confused face.

"Stupify!" the doors blow back knocking Vesta off of his feet. A man in his early thirties, with dark brown hair, and golden eyes enters the house. Eleodoro stares down Malfoy who was fiddling for his wand. Eleodoro disarms him easily.

"Where are the Death Eaters?" Eleodoro says in calm voice. Malfoy only stammers a reply. "I don't have time for this. Cru-"

A spell hits him in the face knocking him out instantly. Elric stands at the top of the stares with a grin on his face. "That's you don't leave me upstairs."

Eleodoro sat on a chair, bound. He comes to and panic swells within him, memories flash in his eyes as he remembers that night. He gains his bearings and sees Draco Malfoy flanked by two Aurors. Elric steps closer, studying Eleodoros face.

"I know you, you gave the ministry some grief a couple of years ago. Killed three Death Eaters he did." Elric says in an impressed tone.

"Five," Eleodoro whispers, "I've killed five of those bastards."

Vesta chuckles. "Good for you mate. What'd they do to you to make you hate them so much? Steal your trousers?"

"They tortured and killed my wife," he glares at them. Vesta's smile evaporates and mumbles an apology. " The last one told me that I could find more, that Draco Malfoy knew where they would be. So here I am."

Elric shakes his head, "Draco knows about as much as you do."

"Give me five minutes alone with him, and I can guarantee that he's told you all he knows." Eleodoro says with a twisted smile, making Malfoy squirm.

"No can do mate. We'll tell you everything we know, and then untie you. But you need to promise us that you won't try to torture, Malfoy." Vesta tells him about The Circle and the attack on the pub, even Elric's encounter in the cabin.

"So this Circle contacted you because of your families ties to Voldemort?" asks Eleodoro to which Malfoy nodded. "Okay, I believe you, for now. Can you untie me please?"

Eleodoro stretches and shakes, Elric asks. "Is it true they call you the Reaper?"

"I suppose so, not a fan of the nick name, but you can never be picky. Good shot earlier by the way, never saw it coming." Eleodoro says. Elric's heart swells from the compliment. "Now what?"

"We wait for Harry Potter, and we write back to The Circle." Vesta says.

"Saying what?" Malfoy asks.

"That we accept of course," Vesta says with a grin.

6

"This is a horrible idea," says Hermione Weasley with a hand on her forehead. "You're going to sneak into a gathering hosted by The Circle, and then what? You're going to unleash Eleodoro onto them?"

Harry, Ron, Elric, Vesta, Malfoy, and Carter shuffle a little uncomfortably. Eleodoro is stock-still.

"We can get rid of this threat in one go," says Eleodoro. "Just get me in the same room as them, and I'll kill them all."

"No killing," says Harry firmly. "We're going to arrest all of them."

Eleodoro shakes his head in disagreement. "You think they'll just go quietly, Harry? Do you think they'll just say 'Oh no! You got us. Guess we're going to Azkaban'? No, it's going to turn for the worse, and we need to be ready."

Elric and Vesta nod in agreement. "He's right Mr. Potter."

Harry shakes his head clearly torn on what they should do and leaves the room to think. Hermione looks at Carter.

"Has anyone ever told you that-" Hermione starts but is interrupted.

"I look like Snape?" says Carter with a tight-lipped smile. "Yes, I get it frequently."

"He was a good man, your Uncle I mean. He was very brave." Hermione touches Carters arm. Ron raises his eyebrows.

"How'd you get roped into this?" Eleodoro asks Carter.

"Well, I was with Ron and Harry at Hogwarts when we saw the Ironbelly and the Death Eater." Carter says. "I met up with them at the Ministry, but they had just received Vestas message. So they brought me along, and here I am."

Vesta ushers Elric into the next room. "Does he give you a weird feeling?"

"Carter?" Elric says a little too loudly.

"Shush, you halfwit!" Vesta also says a little too loudly. He brings his voice into a whisper. "Something about him just puts me off. He seems to be the only one who saw the Death Eater in that forest. Ron and Harry weren't able to see because Carter says that he ran when he was warned off by a noise."

"Don't be ridiculous," whispers Elric. "Harry would've noticed if there was something off about Carter."

"What about Carter?" says Eleodoro. Making both Elric and Vesta jump.

"Vesta thinks there's something off about him." Elric tells Eleodoro.

"I could find out, torture it out of him," says Eleodoro like it meant nothing.

"What? No, why do you always want to torture someone?" Vesta says with a shake of his head. "Just keep an eye on him. We don't want to walk into a trap."

Eleodoro and Elric both nod in agreement. Harry walks back into the other room and calls for everyone to gather. Harry was pacing back and forth.

"We try our best to arrest them, but if things get ugly. We fight, but not to kill. To incapacitate only, no kill curses Eleodoro." Harry says with finality.

"Fine, but don't expect everyone here to survive," says Eleodoro.

"How do you plan on getting in? Even if you're required to wear masks, Malfoy is the only one with an invitation. And they inspect your wand before you enter." Hermione says whilst crossing her arms.

"We can use these," Eleodoro shows him the five wands he took from the Death Eaters he's killed. "They all have the symbol of The Circle. It can get five of us into the gathering."

"So it's settled then," says Ron. "Hermione, you're staying here."

Hermione starts to protest, but Ron shushes her and touches her stomach. She nods at his whispers and he wipes a tear out of her eye.

"Don't you dare die on me Ronald Weasley or I'll kill you myself," she says.

"So who's going in?" says Harry. "There are only five wands."

"Elric, Eleodoro, and Carter," says Vesta. "We'll all go."

"Wait, what about me?" Ron starts to protest.

"You can be our back-up in case anything goes sideways Ron." Harry says. Ron reluctantly agrees. "Malfoy are you ready?"

"I'm not going, Potter." Malfoy spits. "My family has fallen too many times to the dark side. Just imagining myself in the same room as those people makes me sick. I'm not going, I-I can't."

"All right Malfoy," says Harry. Ron shakes his head at Malfoy who looks down at his hands.

"I'll get the masks," says Ron. "We'll meet at Royal Albert Hall then."

They all nod, Ron glances at Hermione who gives him a small smile, and then they disapperate.

The outside of Royal Albert Hall was dim save for a few lights probably used by security guards. They stop a short distance from the front entrance out of view and wait for Ron. He appears only a few short minutes later with five black masks with a red line going across one of the eyes; he also had black cloaks that covered their whole body. They all changed and then looked at Ron.

"Bloody hell, I can barely tell you apart!" He says.

"Alright, if we run into trouble just look for someone wearing this mask. We'll make arrests after the speech, okay?" Harry says, the others nod and make their way up the steps towards the front entrance. A large man was stopping people and checking their wands. Harry and the others present their wands and the man ushers them in. The seats of Royal Albert Hall were nearly filled with dozens of witches and wizards wearing masks, the wizards were dressed very nicely with peacoats and suits, while the witches wore very expensive looking dresses. The balconies were filled with people, making Harry a little nervous about how they're going to manage to arrest these people. The other witches and wizards were filing in behind Harry and were sitting down, Harry could hear them. They were whispering excitedly amongst themselves.

"Did you hear? They said he'd be making an appearance?" One of the witches said excitedly.

"The Elder himself?" said the wizard beside her.

The Elder? Harry thinks to himself. He looks around and notices the sealing mirrors the night sky, much like the one in Hogwarts. Candles float in the air dimly lighting the room. Most people find a seat and the candles go out.

"Who do you think they're executing today?" says a wizard.

"Maybe one of those Mudbloods who tried to fight some of our people." Says another.

Harry shivers at the thought of an execution; he knew they'd have to act to stop it. The lights dim, and a man steps on stage. He puts his wand to his throat.

"Brothers, and Sisters, welcome! Today we celebrate a momentous occasion. Our leader the Elder, himself has come to spectate this event. I can hear some of you saying, 'what event does he speak of?' well, an execution of a wizard, and no not just any wizard. The most famous wizard of our age, Harry Potter himself." Harry's heart drops and looks around and sees wands trained on him and the others. The gesture for him to stand, and they take his wand. "Yes, yes, bring them up here!"

Harry made to kneel on the floor with the three others. They take off his mask and witches and wizards gasp in amazement and anticipation. Harry looks at the others with a confused look. They only shake their head. One of them was missing, but whom? A man wearing the same mask and cloak makes his way up the steps. They've been betrayed but by who? The others masks are removed, revealing Eleodoro, Vesta, and Carter. Harry narrows his eyes at the figure in front of him. The man takes off his mask and cloak.

"Ladies and Gentleman, I give you the Elder!" the announcer says.

Elric looks at them with a twisted grin on face.

"Why?" Vesta manages to say. Elric only shrugs.

"I have my reasons." Elric says. "Now, which one of you is going to die first?"

7

7 The crowd shifted eagerly awaiting Elric's next move. He paced back and worth in silence looking at them with a grin on his face. Vesta had a look of shock on his face, Carter and Eleodoro glared at Elric. Harry was too busy trying to figure out how they were going escape. Elric stopped and knelt in front of him. "Harry Potter, the boy who lived, now a man." He glances at the others, and begins to pace again. "Vesta Woodrow, the man without a purpose. Carter Blackwell still stuck in the shadow of his uncle, and Eleodoro the Reaper, the man who lost everything. "You're probably wondering why I'm doing all of this, the Lethifolds, the dragons, all the killing. You see, without the rise of Voldemort would've amounted to nothing, all his followers came from us. He was part of the inner circle of our organization. The Circle has been around since the time of Merlin. Before Merlin created his Order we were there! I was there. I was his closest friend and companion, then Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, and Rowena Ravenclaw came to be. He awed in their skill as wizards and witches, then the time came when he discarded me in favor of them. So I sought out someone who hated them more than me." Harry answered for him. "Salazar Slytherin. But how are you still here? How are you alive?" "You think Nicolas Flamel was the first one to create a philosophers stone?" Elric chuckled as if it was the stupidest thing he ever heard. "Who do you think gave him the bloody idea? Anyways, where was I? Right, Salazar. Salazar was a great man; very ambitious and a little creepy sometimes with his pet Basilisk. But he was too obsessed with Hogwarts and the purity of the school, when he should have looking at the bigger picture. The world was and is still corrupted by Mudbloods, and half bloods. But Voldemort went about it the wrong way! The daft man, splitting your soul into seven parts, Horcruxes is a barbaric type of magic. Anyway, I keep getting off track here don't I. Salazar wanted only pure bloods to attend, of course this didn't sit right between him and the other three founders. So I offered him a seat at my table, and thus The Circle was created, starting with Salazar and I. Seems like yesterday you know." Harry shook his head in disbelief as the others struggled against their bindings. "What exactly do you want then Elric? You want to rid the world of Muggles and destroy the world? Is that it?" yelled Eleodoro. "Get rid of the Muggles?" He laughed, and knelt next to Eleodoro. "I want to enslave these miserable Muggles. I want to rule the world. "Good chat boys. Take them around back and kill them, leave Potter with me, and where's the Weasley?" Eleodoro, Vesta, and Carter are taken to the back of the stage and made to kneel in front of the three Death Eaters. They raise their wands preparing to send them to their deaths. "Stupify!" The three Death Eaters are sent flying. Ron, Hermione, and Cho Chang emerge, wands raised. "Took you long enough," says Vesta. Ron chuckles. "Sorry, had to fight my way through a bunch of these bloody idiots. Where's Harry?" "Elric has him. I hope it's not just the three of you." Eleodoro says. "We brought help," says Hermione. The hall erupted with flashes of light dozens of witches and wizards are dueling in the stands and in the foyer. Others just disapperated leaving the hall all together, not wanting to reveal their identity to the ministry. "We need to get Harry," says Cho a look of worry on her face. Carter stares at her for a moment then catches himself. With their bindings off and their wands returned they all march towards the sounds of fighting. Aurors and Death Eaters were locked in fights and Eleodoro catches a glance of Elric pushing Harry towards an exit. "There!" yells Eleodoro. They all give chase fighting their way towards Harry. Curses whiz by their heads as they try to keep down; Vesta joins the fighting and tells them he'll catch up.

"I'm needed more here!" Vesta fights the nearest Death Eater while the others push forward. Cho is nearly hit by a curse but Carter manages to block it for her, she gives him a thankful nod. But then Carter is hit himself square in the chest sending him flying. Cho ran towards him to see if he was all right, and she gestures for the others to keep going. Eleodoro hesitates but decides to keep going too. Ron, Hermione, and Eleodoro burst out of the door to find Elric pressing his wand into Harry's neck. "It's over Elric. Your forces are losing, the Circle is finished." Eleodoro says.

Elric starts to laugh maniacally. "You think this is all there is to the Circle? That this small turn out was all of our forces? That's foolishness, we are everywhere in the world." He looks towards Eleodoro. "You really have no clue do you Eleodoro? The truth with what happened."

"What are you talking about?" Eleodoro narrows his eyes. "Your wife of course. Thea!" A figure emerges from the darkness behind Elric pointing a wand at Eleodoro. His eyes go wide with recognition.

"Who's that?" asks Hermione looking at Eleodoro.

Eleodoro just ignores her. "Thea? How? What are you doing? Why do you have a wand? I saw you die."

"You saw what we wanted you to see. I can't believe I married such an oaf." Thea spits.

"But, you're a muggle. You never showed any magical potential." Eleodoro says in disbelief.

"Let go of Harry," says Ron raising his wand.

"Don't you might hit Harry!" warns Hermione.

"It's fine, I know you'll find me," says Harry. "We always find our way back to each other."

"That's rather touching," mocks Elric. "But we really have to go. He's expecting us back." Thea nods and grabs Harry and Elric.

"We'll find you Harry! I promise!" yells Ron. Harry gives them a small smile as he, Elric and Thea disapperate.

END OF PART 1


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